AUTO Express today reveals its definitive list of the top 50 Brits working in the car industry with Nissan’s Andy Palmer at number one.
Palmer, 48, has global responsibility for Nissan’s product planning, programme management, corporate planning and market intelligence, and is the leader of Nissan’s electric vehicle project, which launched the LEAF. He also has responsibility for Nissan’s luxury brand, Infiniti.
In second place in this year’s Auto Express Brit List is BMW’s Ian Robertson, the only Brit to sit on the board of a German car maker. Third place went to Ford’s vice president of global manufacturing, John Fleming, with Nissan’s Colin Dodge in fourth and Chrysler/Jeep’s Mike Manley in fifth.
Nissan is exceptionally well-represented in the top 50, taking seven of the places. The other six Nissan representatives are as follows…
- Colin Dodge, Senior Vice President, is at No. 4
- Brian Carolin, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, North America, is at No. 16.
- Jerry Hardcastle, Global Chief Marketability Engineer, is at No.19.
- Paul Willcox, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Europe, is at No. 23.
- Trevor Mann, Senior Vice President, Global Supply for Nissan Europe, is at No. 31.
- Simon Sproule, Vice President, Global Communications, is at No. 36.
The Auto Express judging panel comprised industry expert Ray Hutton; The Sun’s motoring correspondent Ken Gibson; BBC business correspondent Emma Simpson; plus Auto Express’s Steve Fowler, Graham Hope and Sam Hardy.
Great careers
Chair of the judging panel and editor-in-chief of Auto Express, Steve Fowler, commented: ‘We should all be immensely proud of the incredible talent Britain has to offer, whether it’s in design, engineering, sales, marketing or manufacturing.
It’s further proof of the great careers the motor industry has to offer and the influence Britain has over the global economy.
‘However, we were hugely disappointed that no women made it into the top 50 – there are plenty of talented women working in the business, but it’s something the industry really needs to address.’
The full Brit List top 50 is published in this week’s issue of Auto Express, out today.